Heraclitus of Ephesus (540 B.C. – 480 B.C.) was a Greek philosopher, also known as “The Dark One of Ephesus”. Born in a town in present-day Turkey, he is one of the most studied philosophers before Plato, even though only a few original writings have been preserved.

The work of this Greek thinker is aphoristic, and a great deal of interpretative skill is necessary to understand his teachings.

Great famous quotes and phrases of Heraclitus

In this article we will try to synthesize Heraclitus’ philosophy through his best phrases . They are famous quotes that summarize his knowledge and that reached us through the centuries.

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1. No one bathes in the river twice because everything changes in the river and in the one he bathes in.

Perhaps his most studied and commented reflection. Everything is ephemeral, so we can’t categorically state that an entity remains the same in two different moments.

2. Doctors cut, burn, torture. And by making the sick a good, which seems more bad, they demand a reward that they hardly deserve.

About the dreaded presumptuous ignorance of doctors.

3. For God everything is beautiful, good and just. Men have conceived what is just and unjust.

It is humanity that conceives of the ethical principles of good and evil.

4. Different waters cover those who enter the same river.

Another famous quote from Heraclitus regarding the mutability of matter.

5. The citizens must fight so ardently for the defense of the laws, as well as for the defense of their walls, the latter being no less necessary for the preservation of a city.

Defense and order, two basic principles for the survival of a civilization.

6. Gold diggers dig a lot and find little.

Big companies often bring big disappointments.

7. Sickness makes health pleasant; hunger makes satiety; fatigue makes rest.

Without the less friendly face of existence we would not be able to appreciate the joy of living.

8. In the circle, the beginning and the end are confused.

Plastic metaphor of great aesthetic and philosophical value.

9. It is granted to every man to know himself and to meditate wisely.

The gift of self-reflection. All you have to do is sit down and meditate on life.

10. If you don’t expect the unexpected, you won’t recognize it when it arrives.

The unexpected, sooner or later, can come. So be alert.

11. Donkeys prefer straw to gold.

The perception of value is not in the hands of just anyone.

12. God is day and night, winter and summer, war and peace, abundance and hunger.

Omnipotent and omnipresent. One of Heraclitus’ phrases in which he expresses his vision of the divine entity.

13. All human laws are nourished by divine law.

Human morality is but a statement of heavenly laws.

14. Everything changes; nothing is.

Another famous quote, very concise, about the mutability of matter.

15. Death is all that we see awake; sleep is what we see asleep.

Beautiful dreamlike phrase to reflect on.

16. Dogs only bark at people they don’t know.

With this famous quote, Heraclitus exhorts us to reflect.

17. The sun is new every day.

It can be interpreted in different ways, but it is probable that Heraclitus pronounced this phrase thinking again about the permanent change of reality.

18. The dry soul is the wisest and best.

No artifices, no make-up.

19. It is wise to listen not to me, but (“to the logos”) to the word, and to recognize that all things are one.

A sample of his philosophical monism, a doctrine also supported by Parmenides, Spinoza or Hegel.

20. This world has always been, is and will be eternally living fire.

The flame of existence is rarely extinguished.

21. War is the origin of everything.

Interesting reflection on violence.

22. Dead bodies need to be disposed of with more reason than manure.

Perhaps to prevent the spread of infectious diseases.

23. Nothing is permanent except change.

Change is the only thing we can claim to be accurate and reliable.

24. Don’t make people laugh to the point of making them laugh.

Self-respect and composure, very present in Heraclitus’ work.

25. Because without collision forces there is no movement and no reality.

In the conflict lies the essence and the synthesis.

26. If all things were to go up in smoke, the noses would discern.

Metaphor to apply to different contexts of life.

27. Once they are born, they want to live and reach their destiny, but rather rest, so they leave behind them to reach their destiny.

About human existence.

28. Erudition does not teach good sense, since it would have taught it to Hesiod and Pythagoras and even to Xenophanes and Hecateus.

Having broad knowledge does not imply having reached maturity and wisdom.

29. One’s opinion, sacred disease.

On the banality of ill-founded opinions.

30. Let’s not go guessing randomly about the most important issues.

Very much along the lines of Heraclitus’ previous sentence.

31. It is necessary to know that war is common; justice, contention, and that everything happens because of strife and necessity.

Another phrase of Heraclitus in which he exonerates the conflict of the intuitive rejection that people show for him.

32. Eyes are more accurate witnesses than ears.

Human perception prioritizes the sense of sight. But this is a metaphorical reflection.

33. The wise is the goal of the human soul, and as it advances in its knowledge, it moves away from the horizon of the unknown.

Knowledge makes us free and gives us a place in the world.

34. The soul is coloured by the colour of its thoughts.

Positive phrase from the great Greek philosopher.

35. Human health is a reflection of the health of the Earth.

One of the first famous environmental quotes in this sentence by Heraclitus.